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mosquitoes

I am digging a small pond 15x27x2 for fun and my bees,what can I use to kill the mosquitoes in the water that will not hurt my wild bees?
the pond is about 10 feet from the 2 hives and I plan on traping them next year after I get some things to keep them in.

Re: mosquitoes

Adding some type of small fish may be your best option. I know here in the deep south the local irrigation canals are purposely stocked with fish for mosquito control. Goldfish, killfish, tadpoles, and guppies are well known for eating mosquito larvae. Koi are nice, but too big to consider eating mosquito larvae.

Re: mosquitoes

Gambusia can be used.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquitofish
The mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) is a species of freshwater fish, also commonly known simply by its generic name, gambusia, although such usage is ambiguous. It is sometimes called the western mosquitofish, to distinguish it from the eastern mosquitofish (G. holbrooki). It is a member of the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes. The genus name 'gambusia' is derived from the Cuban Spanish term 'gambusino', meaning useless.[1][2]

These fish are native to the watershed of the Gulf of Mexico, where it has long been known that they feed readily on the aquatic larval and pupal stages of mosquitoes
Ernie

Re: mosquitoes

Ditto on the fish. We've had yard ponds for years and never had mosquito problems. The Mosquito prefers still water with plants, etc. to lay their eggs in. Our plants are in pots and do not crowd along an edge. Maybe not overly natural in appearance, but still looks good. The fish can work their way around and take care of any larva and such that might show up. We have various fish- koi, goldfish, some I can't spell or pronounce - mutts one and all.

Re: mosquitoes

Yes, the mosquito fish is perfect for a small pond. Growing up, my parents always built small goldfish ponds somewhere in the yard of our houses. Mosquito fish were ALWAYS in the pond for this very reason. The bees did water in the ponds, too. Never had mosquito problems.